A letter to the Daily Telegraph which was published on 22nd August 1991.

It is not true, as implied by your editorial (Aug. 16th) and John Clare’s report to say that the A-level results this year indicate a turning away from maths, physics and from chemistry.

Although the number of entries to these subjects has fallen from last year, the number of 18 year-olds has fallen even further because of the disastrous decline of the birth rate in the 1970s.  Thus expressed as a percentage of the number of 18 year-olds in our population, the proportion sitting A-level maths this year is higher (at 9.6 per cent) than last year (9.5 per cent), and the percentage of the age group actually passing maths this year is 7.2 percent against 7 per cent last year.  Physics and chemistry similarly show an increase in the proportion of the age group sitting and passing at A-level.

The number of 18 year-olds will continue to fall year by year up to 1995.  The number of science A-level entries can thus be predicted to continue to fall, accompanied no doubt by criticism of the exams as “too narrow” or “uninspiring”.

The truth is that only a minority of this or any country’s population has the interest and ability to study these subjects at advanced and university level.  However, if you increase the proportion of the age group taking A-levels, it is quite inevitable that the increase will be taken up in expanding the numbers taking subjects such as social sciences and business studies, where it is easier to pass.  This effect will then be misrepresented as a shift from science.